ROMEOVILLE, Ill. -- The University of Chicago men's cross country team opened their season on Friday Night with a first-place finish at the Lewis Early Bird Invitational.

The 19th-ranked Maroons capped off the meet with 10 of the top-12 finishers as they rolled to the meet win with just 18 total points.

Noah Bender brought home a first-place finisher in the meet with a time of 18:56.40, and Liam Eifert joined him as the lone Maroons to run a sub-19-minute time with a 18:57.60.

Spencer May and Sanju Patel rounded out the top-5, and Grant Musick and Evan Bender also finished in sub-19:15.

Following this meet win, UChicago will take a week off before they travel to Wheaton (IL) for the Gil Dodds Invitational on September 20 at 10 AM CT.

TOP 10 FINISHERS:

1) Noah Bender - 18:56.40
2) Liam Eifert - 18:57.60
4) Spencer May - 19:02.66
5) Sanju Patel - 19:40.80
6) Grant Musick - 19:05.40
7) Evan Bender - 19:13.76
9) Evan Parker - 19:19.60
10) Andrew Valentino - 19:24.40
11) Sam Zwick-Lavinsky - 19:27.50
12) Isaac Cohen - 19:30.40

TEAM RESULTS:

1) #19 UChicago - 18
2) #13 Lewis (DII) - 66
3) (RV) Olivet Nazarene (NAIA) - 89
4) Purdue Northwest - 96
5) Dominican (IL) - 168
6) Bethel (IN) - 169
7) Judson (IL) - 207
8) Spoon River - 210
9) Moody Bible - 226